In the Rain
by lrbworks
Summary: Everything goes well and smoothly in Paris as long as Ladybug and Chat Noir are around - that is, until Chat Noir's Miraculous gets taken from him. Ladybug must face the many akuma on her own while her partner can do nothing but watch from afar as his civilian self, wondering just how useful Adrien Agreste actually is.
1. Chapter 1

inspired by azamack's/ artzamack's lovely fanart on tumblr.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

remiss ( _adjective_ )

1\. lacking care or attention to duty; negligent.

* * *

Adrien could feel the sun shining through the window before he even opened his eyes; it was going to be a beautiful day and the forecast had called for it to be similar for the remainder of the month. He was so preoccupied with basking in the warmth of his blankets and of the light that he almost did not register the sound of his alarm.

Reluctantly Adrien lifted his arm, grasping at the air until the snooze button met with his fingers. Silence filled the room and he was able to once again enjoy the sunlight caressing his skin.

 _Not for long,_ he sighed internally, realizing that he was never really allowed to sleep in.

With a groan, he sat up, reaching his arms high above his head and allowed his muscles to stretch while a groan of protest passed his lips. "Good morning, Plagg," he greeted, setting his feet on the ground.

His hand rose in an attempt to rub the sleep from his eyes, and almost emphasizing how exhausted he felt, Adrien yawned sonorously and shamelessly. After a few moments, he realized that he did not receive the usual response of "five more minutes," and his eyebrow raised, a disbelieving grin ghosting across his lips. He had to hand it to Plagg; he was a pretty heavy sleeper, even compared to Adrien.

"Plagg?" The name hung in the air, again without any words from his Kwami.

His smile was replaced with a puzzled frown - then his eyes snapped to the hand near his face, still balled into a fist, and he realized that something was missing: his Miraculous.

 _My ring?!_ His breath caught in his throat as he stared at his bare hand, and he even held it out farther just to make sure. _It can't be gone. It was right here last night. Plagg was right here._

"No," he spoke with a gasp, his eyes widening as the reality of the situation crashed down upon him. His body was trembling, his eyebrows drawn together with incredulity, and suddenly he felt like he was stuck within a bad dream.

He wished he was stuck within a bad dream.

" _NO!_ "

The scream echoed through the house, carrying his emotions with it: the disbelief, the shock, the anger, and the pure agony of the situation.

Gabriel Agreste sat in his office, head in his hands as he listened to the pained shout of his only son. He tensed, his lips parting and the breathing he had been holding flowing out quickly.

Inside the desk drawer to his left sits a box, and inside that box, a ring. Not just any ring, but the very ring that he had noticed Adrien to be wearing when they had hugged after the incident with Jackady. "It'll all be over soon," he had said, and he meant it.

"It's for his own good," he mumbled to himself, seemingly convinced by his own words as he returned to his work.

Turmoil ensued inside of Adrien. Losing his ring meant losing Plagg - losing the one person who knew him with and without the mask, inside and out. Plagg, although inhuman, was his absolute best friend, in spite of their jovial conflicts, and he had been irresponsible and negligent enough to lose the one thing that kept him around.

Adrien ripped the blanket off of his bed in hopes of hearing the metal clatter to the ground, but he was left hanging when all that followed was quiet. The quiet made him want to explode.

His dresser suffered next. Clothes were thrown out behind him, scattering all over the floor in an array of casual and formal, vivid and neutral, and his shoes were not far behind. Still, even after tearing every clothing article out of his dresser, he was left empty-handed.

The bedroom was large, yet even though he scoured every inch of it, not a glimmer of silver was seen.

Not even the bathroom held a trace of to where his Miraculous had disappeared, but even in the shower he did not remove the ring from his finger; he would not have done that to Plagg. The idea that it might have fallen down that drain was a bust, since the drain was covered and the only thing small enough to fit through was the water itself.

As soon as he had begun looking, though, he had known that he had not accidentally lost it. His ring had definitely been on his finger, since he clearly remembered Plagg falling asleep in his mess of blond hair.

Someone had to have taken it.

 _And I was asleep,_ he thought bitterly, fists clenching at his sides as he looked around. It resembled the scene of a tornado, should he have to compare it to anything. He did not care. _Plagg was stolen while I was asleep and I couldn't even wake up to stop it from happening. Am I really that careless?_

He stumbled backwards, sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the window in front of him. While a part of him was able to comprehend to situation, a corner of his mind refused to accept it; after all that time as Chat Noir, keeping his identity a secret and protecting his Miraculous from the hands of evil, it all gets taken from him in a split second.

He lost his Miraculous. He lost Plagg. _He lost Chat Noir._

His mind drifted to a certain hero clad in polkadots and he wondered just what she would do - and he knew she would do everything in her power to find her missing Miraculous. "I can't just sit here," he scolded himself, standing abruptly once more and grabbing his cell phone. "I have to find my Miraculous and save Plagg!"

Without another word he dashed out of his room, making a bee-line towards the front door. Nothing would stop him; not anybody-

"Adrien." Nathalie's stern voice stunned him. Clearly she had just arrived, since she had not even been able to set her briefcase down. "We need to leave soon."

"Leave?" he repeated dumbly, not quite understanding what she was talking about.

His gaze was caught by a flickering over her shoulder and he realized that the television had been turned on, broadcasting the local Parisian news. While it had been speaking of the pleasant weather moments prior, a breaking newscast cut in with an update on akuma activity.

" _The villain appears to have the power to put people to sleep and nothing seems to be able to wake them,"_ the caster reported, holding the microphone inches from her mouth. " _The targets do not seem to be specific, either; he's targeting anyone and everyone in his view."_

The akumatized boy in question appeared behind her, a sickly sweet grin on his lips as he stared directly into the camera's lens.

" _Now we hopefully await to appearance of Ladybug and-"_ Suddenly a blast of blue blinded her and she swayed before falling to the side in a deep sleep. It was clear the the cameraman had been affected as well when the camera clattered to the ground.

Fingers snapping in front of his face snatched his attention. "Were you listening at all?" Nathalie asked while tapping her foot.

"I really need to go-"

"You're not going anywhere." With a roll of her eyes, she turned around and began walking towards the door, silently ordering Adrien to follow her. "Your father arranged for a photoshoot with one of Paris's most famous photographers, and this is the only time he is able to fit us in for the next three months. We are _not_ missing this."

"But-" Adrien tried again.

He was cut off, _again_. "No 'but's. We're leaving… _now_."

A wave of panic coursed through his veins as his worried stare flickered between the television and Nathalie's back. So badly did he want to go and defend Paris, but apparently there was no way for him to weasel his way out of the photo shoot.

 _My Lady… She can handle this on her own._

His hopes for her were high, even as he climbed into the limousine and drove in the opposite direction of the akuma.

 _After this, I need to focus on finding Plagg. That's my priority._

Something in his gut told him that it would not be so easy; the task he had before him would be a long and perilous one, whether or not he recruited the finest help Paris had to offer.


	2. Chapter 2

inspired by azamack's/ artzamack's lovely fanart on tumblr.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

moiety ( _noun_ )

1\. one of two equal parts; half.

* * *

Ladybug narrowly managed to evade the path of her opponent's attack - that is, the car that came soaring her way in the blink of an eye. In the same fluid movement, she threw her yoyo across the street so that it tangled around a streetlamp, and she held on like lives depended on it. They did, though, because the crowd of onlookers had been so mesmerized by the battle occurring in front of them that they did not have enough time to flee the scene, nor dodge the vehicle hurtled at them.

"J-Jus-" she barely managed to wheeze out, her words cutting off into a strained squeak as the car was stopped by the string of her yoyo. The civilians screamed at the realization that they were in danger as long as they remained in the area, and quickly they began scattering through the streets in an attempt to flee.

"Ladybug!" called a voice, stealing her attention away from the backs of the people she had saved. "Help me!"

Upon seeing Chloé cornered by Brute, whose granted power was insane super strength, Ladybug's eyes sparked with resolve. Her arm reared back before she pitched her yoyo like a baseball; her feet left the ground and she was flying once again, the wind in her face and her cheeks the color of roses. Facilely she swept Chloé up with her, landing on a rooftop and setting the blonde on her feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the akumatized man in teh street.

Chloé scoffed, arms crossed over her chest and nose turned into the air. "No, I'm not okay! You almost let me get killed by that thing!" Then, slightly, she softened, glancing at Ladybug out of the corner of her eye. "Thank you, though… for saving me."

Her eyes widened the tiniest bit at the sliver of gratitude shown to her, but she had no time to marvel at the sudden change in her classmate's attitude. Instead, she offered a large smile before leaping off the roof towards her target.

She landed on his shoulders and grabbed him by the hair to ensure that he did not throw her off. "Your arms are so muscular that you can't even reach above your head!" she both taunted and gawked.

Still, while she was temporarily untouchable, Ladybug opened her yoyo and tried to contact her teammate. There was no answer, nor was there even a signal given off by his baton as there usually was.

 _Where is he?_

No time was given to her to try calling him again as she was slammed against the nearby brick wall, promptly losing her grip on Brute and falling to the ground.

 _Did something happen to him?_

She stood to her feet and swung her yoyo at her side, preparing to face him again with her constant determination. He did not seem intimidated whatsoever and instead of squaring up, he just sideswept her with his fist too quickly for her to dodge. For a few hundred meters she was in the air before she landed on the ground, hand cupping her cheek which has unfortunately suffered the brunt of the hit.

 _But… he's Chat Noir. He's always fine._

The consideration that he had perhaps gotten tangled up with life outside of the mask was not too far from plausible. Many times before did she too have to delay her arrival due to civilian life situations, so it would have been no surprise to her that he had been preoccupied with something other than saving Paris.

She looked up and saw Brute barreling towards her without the intention to stop, so swiftly she rose to her knees and tossed her yoyo into the air. "Lucky Charm!" What she was given was a small, compact mirror, which utterly confused her; how was she supposed to use a mirror to fend off a merciless giant?

Her eyes flickered about to analyze the area, realizing that the sun was to Brute's back and in just the right position to reflect off the mirror. So, doing as she planned, she opened the mirror and allowed the sunlight to shine brightly in Brute's eyes, blinding him and causing him to cover his face with his hands.

It was an easy win from there on out. Her yoyo tangled around Brute's feet and when she pulled, he fell onto his back with a loud _thud_.

 _Chat Noir never misses a battle, though._

Even if one of the duo was late, it had typically been her. In spite of her sense of responsibility, Ladybug seemed much more prone to getting stuck outside of the mask, and it had become a common occurrence for her to swoop in late to a battle and save the day.

A miniscule voice in the back of her mind told her that she had reason to be worried. As she walked towards Brute, though, she convinced herself that she was overreacting. She could not expect Chat to always be there to back her up; she could not fully depend on Chat because saving Paris was just as much her responsibility as it was his. Sometimes, maybe it needed to be done alone.

Sometimes, maybe she needed to learn to be on her own.

"Chat Noir," chortled Brute from his spot on the asphalt, a sickening grin splitting his face in half. "He is gone."

Ladybug's blood turned to ice, her look sharpening into an icy glare. "What are you talking about?" Her movements were robotic as she grabbed the medal around his neck; her muscles remained rigid.

"His Miraculous belongs to Hawk Moth now. You're the only one left." A vicious cackle ensued, each bout of laughter like a stab to her heart.

 _There's no way…._

She crushed the award in her hand and the akuma tried fluttering away, but it was effortlessly trapped inside her yoyo. No words left her mouth as she purified it, nor as she released it, and even when she threw the mirror into the air she remained silent.

 _His Miraculous… gone? No..._

Everything returned to normal and Ladybug fell to her knees, staring blankly at the pavement beneath her. Her whole body was trembling and the breaths that left her mouth were brief and erratic, but she paid her condition no mind.

Chat Noir's Miraculous could not have been taken. He may have acted casual and cool at times, but she _knew_ that he was cautious. If his Miraculous had been taken, he would have had to put up a fight… and _lost_.

Her hands balled into fists as the first warning beep sounded, though she could barely even hear it.

 _If Chat Noir lost… then that means… That means…_

Brow furrowing, she shook her head, standing up and glancing around. People had been staring at her, wondering why their herione had collapsed to her knees in the street, but she brushed them off with a smile and a wave. Still, while some of them waved back, others seemed unconvinced.

She must have really been out of it.

"Ladybug!"

Alya's beckoning roused her fully back to her senses and she noticed her best friend standing in front of her with her cell phone. Clearly, it was recording, so Ladybug did her best to force the most believable smile onto her face.

"Are you hurt? Your cheek is bruised!" The genuine concern in Alya's voice managed to melt some of the chills that racked her body, but her own condition was not necessarily at the forefront of her mind.

For the most part, Ladybug had long forgotten about the stinging sensation in her cheek, but once it was brought back to her attention, the pain from the blow radiated throughout the entire left side of her face.

"I'm fine!" _I guess the suit can't protect me entirely. Tikki must be exhausted._

Alya's following question caused her head to snap forward, the same sense of cluelessness and worry swelling within her chest. "Where's Chat Noir?" the teenager asked innocently, clearly just as lost as Ladybug.

Blue eyes turned towards the sky, the reassuring grin falling from her face. It was replaced by a pensive expression, masking the majority of her other emotions. "I don't know."

 _Chat Noir… is it true?_

* * *

Hawk Moth scowled at the sky, whipping around and stirring up the butterflies that surrounded him. He knew it would be much more difficult to obtain Ladybug's Miraculous; that was no surprise, since happening upon Chat Noir's identity was just pure luck.

Rather, it was bad luck for the black cat.

A smirk stretched across his lips, menacing and sinister. While Ladybug may have eluded him once again, implementing the idea into her head that her partner was in danger would surely lead her to be more desperate and less careful.

Perhaps it would even lead her right to him.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's chapter two! I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for following, favoriting, and reviewing! It's much appreciated!**

 **Updates should be weekly, but may be twice a week, depending on how much I have written.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

incipient ( _adjective_ )

1\. in an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop.

* * *

The streets of Paris remained relatively quiet throughout the night, aside from the stirred winds and rustling of the trees. The occasional car whirred by on the side streets, but most of the activity was buzzing in central Paris - near the Eiffel Tower, as tourists usually stayed up later than local Parisians. Clouds blanketed the sky, preventing much moonlight from illuminating the city, so the only light was from the soft glow of street lamps and the occasional curtains-drawn window. It was a peaceful night.

At least, it gave the appearance of being so.

Ladybug sat atop a roof of one of the many edifices, staring at the yoyo she held loosely in her hand. The breeze sifted through her hair and ruffled her bangs, the biting cold tinting her cheeks a light pink, and her eyes reflected the brilliance of a busy city night. Her feet dangled lazily over the edge but she did not see any farther than the weapon of a toy she always counted on - about as much as she counted on her partner.

She had given Chat Noir the benefit of the doubt, even going so far as to wait an extra thirty minutes before setting off on their nightly patrol alone. Even then, she worked sluggishly, silently hoping that he had fallen behind and would catch up to her with ease.

The fact that his Miraculous had been stolen from him seemed truer with every passing hour, every passing minute without him by her side. Perhaps he would have been forced to miss the earlier battle, but he would have greeted her coquettishly under the mask of the night and eventually explained the reason for his absence. But he was not present for their patrol, either. What worried Ladybug the most was that had his ring actually been taken from him, it would have been taken by force; he could have gotten hurt - or _worse_ \- and she would have had no idea.

She was not there for him. She could not do anything to help him. Suddenly, something turned inside her stomach; perhaps, just _maybe_ , revealing their identities was not such a terrible idea.

 _This is my fault._ Her grip on her yoyo tightened, her hardened stare rising to focus on the Eiffel Tower in the distance. In the back of her mind, she knew that there was nothing she could have done, but it did not prevent the feelings of guilt and shame from prevailing. _If Chat Noir is hurt, then… then…_

 _I don't know what I would do with myself._

She wanted to go home. A shadow was cast across the rooftop when she stood: not the shadow of a hero, but the form of a lost and confused girl. Sometimes when she wore the mask, she forgot that she was just Marinette underneath, that Chat Noir was _somebody_.

As she prepared to launch herself off the edge, yoyo at the ready, the sound of swift footsteps could be heard approaching. Since it was so late and not a single person had been seen outside around those streets, it piqued her interest.

The person was running, she noticed as the wind wound through her hair. Even though it whistled in her ears, she could still detect the rapid, hurried movements and the heavy pitter-patter of sneakers. Doing the only rational thing of which she could think, she decided to meet the person halfway, standing directly under a street lamp. He would be able to see her immediately and if he decided to run away, that would definitely give away that something was going on.

Instead, the stranger came to a standstill. Ladybug tightened her grip on her yoyo, preparing to capture and interrogate him should he do anything suspicious. "I know you're there." Resting her free hand on her hip, she raised an eyebrow and her bottom lip jutted out the tiniest bit. Her concern for Chat Noir was put on the back burner, still flickering in the back of her mind but not her focus. "Come on."

"Ladybug?"

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard her name echo into the darkness and for a moment, she saw Chat Noir shuffling into the glow of light. Blinking again, though, she realized that it was not Chat; it was Adrien, huffing heavy breaths and a sheen of sweat glimmering on his face. His eyes were wide as he stared at her and his mouth was opened in silence. Ladybug's expression mirrored his.

"Adrien…?"

Neither of them dared to move. Their gazes were tightly locked and they were both utterly moonstruck at the sight of one another; they pined after each other like no tomorrow and neither of them even knew it.

Ladybug shook her head, releasing the breath she held along with a nervous giggle. "Are you okay? Why out you-I mean, why are you out so late?"

"I'm fine," he assured a bit too quickly, averting his gaze and rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just looking… for, _uh…_ my friend's house. It's hard to see in the dark, you know? Heh…" Pink dusted his cheeks with both embarrassment and skittishness, but Ladybug seemed completely oblivious to it.

"Y-Yeah!" Another breathy laugh bubbled from her throat but there was a sadness about her. _Seeing in the dark,_ she mused, recalling easily her feline friend that had no difficulty with such an issue.

Adrien, too, looked upset. Her smile fell as she analyzed him, eyebrows knitting together the tiniest bit with worry. His gaze was downcast and a frown seemed to be tugging his mouth downwards no matter how much he tried to suppress it, and the sparkle in his eyes she always saw at school was no longer there. He was definitely not himself.

"So," they both began at the same time, pausing abruptly and then erupting into awkward chuckles. "You talk-okay, I-"

"Adrien, you should go home," Ladybug broke their synchronization, glancing into the darkness. The only thing that would be lurking in the dark is Hawk Moth, and he was enough cause for concern; she did not need someone for whom she cared wandering around at night and possibly ending up in some sort of danger - or perhaps she was overreacting after losing her partner. "It's… getting late!"

She looked at him again to flash a grin, but her composure crumbled when she saw him. His eyes were wide and they were not meeting hers; no, they were trained on her cheek, and she knew exactly why. _The makeup must've worn off._ Heat rushing to her face, she angled her head slightly away in order to obscure his view of it.

However, it was already too late; he had seen it.

"Are _you_ okay?" he questioned after a few moments, taking a step towards her.

Instinctively, she took a step backwards to level with him, her heart thudding twice as fast in her chest. "Oh, this?! Haha, it's fin-it's nothing. Just a bruise. I'm fine!" She practically stumbled over her own words in an attempt to assure him that she was, in fact, perfectly okay (physically, at least).

Adrien did not seem to buy it. Whether it was as his civilian self or as Chat Noir, not once had Ladybug sported an injury so visible as the one she did at the moment. She never got hurt, but that time… she did. He was not there to stop it from happening.

"What happened?" he interrogated further, his voice surprisingly smooth considering that the girl that he loved had gotten hurt because of him and his failures.

"Nothing happened, really!" she insisted, shaking her head. "Stuff like this happens all the time! You should see Chat Noir and I after the tougher battles! We're covered in bruises. It's part of being a superhero."

She was lying through her dazzling smile, all in order to lessen his worry. He knew, though - he knew that it was not normal for them. Their suits usually protected them to a great extent, so Ladybug would have _had_ to have suffered a blow of great impact for it to leave a bruise so dark while she was transformed. She was lying about being hurt to make him feel better when it was his fault in the first place.

 _Pathetic._

"Chat Noir… He wasn't there," he stated bluntly. He was not asking because he already _knew_ ; everybody knew.

Ladybug's eyes widened slightly and she swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in her throat. Her gaze darted to the ground before she shook her head. "No…"

"He… If he had been there, you wouldn't have been hurt," he pointed out harshly, making her flinch. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "What kind of _hero_ just leaves his partner alone like that? He's so-"

"No!" Ladybug stepped towards him once, twice, three times, and even though his height trumped hers, it felt like she was towering over him.

Her eyes flickered in between his, searching for something, anything, but all she found was bitterness and sadness. Never before had Adrien expressed distaste for Chat Noir; actually, he had always shown quite the opposite throughout the many occasions that the two heroes had brought up in a class conversation.

She startled him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Chat Noir… It's not his fault that he can't fight with me right now. I know he's out there right now, wishing that he could, but that would probably put a lot of people in danger." Woe reflected on her face but she still put on a smile for him, her cheeks flushed.

"I don't care about this. It doesn't hurt at all," she explained, gesturing to the splotch of purple on her face. "Even if Chat Noir had been there with me, I still would have gotten this one way or another. I just… I just want him to be okay. We're a team, you know?"

Again, the smile shone so brightly on her face that he forced himself to look away. He did not feel _worthy_ of basking in her rays.

"Please don't blame Chat," she requested quietly, stepping away from Adrien and pivoting on her heel. "He wouldn't blame me if I were in his shoes."

Adrien knew it to be the truth. Had he heard that Ladybug's Miraculous taken, he would only be sick with worry. Not an ounce of resentment would ever taint his mind and he would probably spend a majority of his free time searching for Ladybug to ensure that she was okay. Slowly, he nodded, understanding from where she had been coming. "Okay."

It would be hard, but he would try.

He saw it one last time: her smile. "Goodnight, Adrien," she murmured over her shoulder before taking off into the sky, looking like she was flying.

Adrien watched her figure disappear above the rooftops, a vivid flash of red against the dark night sky, and he was absolutely mesmerized. It was not wonder to him why he was so head over heels for her; it was barely a mystery to anybody. So, a ghost of a smile on his lips, he continued on his path - this time, heading home.

At least his lady would be okay.


End file.
